Painfree Computing

Next week, I'm starting an internal I.T. program called Painfree Computing.

It's designed to eliminate some of the causes of end user frustration. This is going to be a long journey, but in the end I know it'll be worth it.

Our eventual goal is standardization, standardization, standardization. And to accomplish that, we're going to have a LOT of conversations with our user community before we reach the promised land.

But our team needs a mindset change as well. We don't always make things as easy as we could for our users. Too often, processes which should be improved, are ignored and evolve into a "us vs. them" or "they should have known better" discussion. Unfortunately that doesn't prevent the problem from re-occurring.

Out team spends a good portion of our day looking at other business processes like quoting, order entry, field service, testing etc and while that's all good, we sometimes fail to see that we have operational improvement opportunity in our OWN backyard.

Over time, we'll take a look at the entire computing process from the time our users show up in the morning and hit the on button, to logoff at night. We're going to look for ways that boot time can be reduced, all custom applications will automatically be updated to the latest version, software suites will all be patched to the same (current) level, systems will be backed up automatically to the network, remote access will look, act and feel the same as if our users were in the office.

I.T. processes, like Bug fixes will contain workflow to automatically notify us when new bugs are reported by our user community and auto notify our users when they are fixed.

Stuff will just work.

At least that's the plan!

Your Call is Being Monitored for Quality Assurance Purposes...

How often have you called a large service organization, only to be greeted by an automated system, which declares that your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes, before connecting you to a real live human being?

I think it happens all the time.

I have a question.

If my call is being monitored for quality assurance, how come the service is so crappy?

I think that this recording must be a standard feature on big call center phone switches. You can turn it on and try to make believe you're serious about providing a great customer service experience.

Or you can actually provide the great customer service experience.

Your customers know the difference. Do you?

Because if you are really monitoring the calls, and reps aren't able to answer customer questions, you may be inadvertently saying "We're monitoring our customer service. And this is the best we can do".

So try turning off the feature. Sit beside your reps and coach them. Spend time with your new call center reps and demonstrate your company's service standards.

Set the bar high.

Sometimes using less technology yields better results.

Who's Your Bubba?

A friend recommended a terrific book, called Designing the Obvious, by Robert Hoekman Jr. This book is all about designing web applications for ease of use.

One of the concepts Hoekman espouses, is to create a persona for each type of user - a brief description of a "typical" user of the application. You give your persona a name, a career and a business challenge he (or she) is struggling with (that you're trying to solve). You might even download a random photo from the web and give your persona a "face".

The exercise is indended to help you get inside the head of your customer. To change your perspective. To see things from your customer's point of view.

It reminded me of a road trip that our Marketing department took, several years ago, to a well known Direct Marketing company that specializes in outdoor recreation (hunting, fishing, camping and the like).

They told us the story of "Bubba".

"Bubba" was the name of their typical customer. They could describe what Bubba looked like, what Bubba liked to eat and what clothes he typically wore. They knew what truck (not car) he drove. They knew how much money he made and what he liked to do on his time off. No matter who we talked to, Bubba's description remained remarkably consistent.

And everything they did required Bubba's approval. If they wanted to add a new line of fishing lures, they needed Bubba's permission. If they wanted to expand their line of fishing boats, Bubba's truck needed to be able to tow them. Before deciding to expand their line of firearms, Bubba had to be able to afford them.

When their Marketing department held meetings, they typically reserved a chair for Bubba.

The concept might sound a little corny, but it worked. They never lost sight of the customer. And they were very successful with this technique.

How do you sustain customer focus? Does your company have a Bubba?

Tell a Thousand People

Our neighbor, Laura, dropped by last evening. Our Friday night ritual is to lounge in our screened porch and discuss the week's events over a glass (or two) of our favorite beverages.

This week Laura had yet another bad customer service experience at our local gas station. She had filled up her car and purchased a carwash at the pump. The driveway to the carwash is tucked neatly behind the gas station - a one way single lane strip of pavement leading to the carwash. Once you're in line, you're in line.

Upon arriving at the kiosk where you enter the carwash code, she realized that the receipt had misprinted and did not include her code. The keypad has no facility to call into the station to report any problems, so she had to back down the narrow entrance way, park outside the station and enter the store to talk to a clerk.

And then things turned ugly.

Despite the fact that her credit card receipt showed her gas purchase and her carwash purchase, the clerk refused to give her a carwash code, stating that her card wasn't charged for the carwash. He said she could purchase a carwash for $6. (Even more insulting, since a car wash only costs $5 when you fill up!) After several minutes more of heated debate, she had to leave the station, already late for a business meeting - without her carwash.

Now, I'm sure that some unscrupulous customers try to scam free car washes from time to time - but I'm guessing that they typically don't do it after putting $45 dollars worth of premium gas in their Porsche.

So the gas station "won" that round.

Or had they?

Laura is a consultant who handles community outreach communications for major metropolitan construction efforts, like big highway construction projects and major sports venue construction. She's very good at her job and she knows everyone.

Before leaving the gas station parking lot, she placed a call to the Better Business Bureau and reported her complaint. And then she decided to make it her personal mission to tell one thousand people about how lousy our local gas station is.

The old adage is that an unsatisfied customer will tell ten people about their experience. Laura is raising the bar.

2 down. 998 to go.

My Movie Rant

This morning I had a question for my local movie theatre. I was on their website and wondered why they weren't showing a major film, which was released yesterday. This movie chain has a monopoly in the area.

Great News. On their website was the ability to email a question.

Bad News. No one was on the other end to answer the question. I received an auto-reply stating that their normal business hours were Monday to Thursday 7am-5pm and Fridays until 12:00pm.

The email went on to state: "If you contact us during non-business times, or on holidays, a guest service specialist will respond within the next few business days." It goes on to say:

"If your request requires immediate assistance please contact the manager of your local theatre. Emergency phone numbers for Theatres are available by calling the local recorded showtime number listed here (website link).

What's wrong with this picture? (Pun intended).

Don't offer me email access and then tell me to call! You'd be better off not posting the email address at all. If you're telling me I have to call the theatre and talk to the manager, why not have the local managers monitor the email account on a rotating basis? After all, don't you think it's MORE likely that people will want answers to their questions on a Friday night or a weekend? (when people actually want to go to the movies?)

I'm just saying.....